1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to water purifying and vending apparatus, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for providing purified or drinking water which is of sufficient purity for drinking, cooking, automobile batteries, radiators, and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many types of vending machines are commercially available in the prior art and several different types of water vending machines have been available for at least twenty years. These systems generally involve a coin-operated liquid vending apparatus for the bulk vending of water or similar liquids. The systems generally purify water from a well, reservoir, municipal water system or similar source by removing certain minerals and other impurities therefrom.
The early prior art systems utilized ion-exchangers or distillation units for purifying purposes. Several systems provided means for dispensing several selected quantities of water to be dispensed depending upon the total value of coins deposited in the machine.
Other prior art systems dispense either demineralized water or drinking water of balanced mineral content. Since the flavor and taste of the water for drinking purposes depends on the public dictate, the presence of a certain mineral content in high grade drinking water is essential. Therefore, the prior art systems added a solution of minerals and blended the mineral mixture or solution into the purified or demineralized water during the vending cycle whenever drinking water was selected.
Some prior art systems utilize a timed flow of water at a constant pressure whereas others use a positive displacement electric contact flow meter to measure the amount of water dispensed. Prior art systems often employed means to render the delivery apparatus ineffective if the water to be dispensed does not satisfy a preselected purity standard. Other systems provide shelf levels to accomodate both one gallon and five gallon containers.
The use of a solution of minerals for addition to the purified or demineralized water for obtaining flavor in drinking water is complex and cumbersome. Distilled or demineralized water is substantially completely free from minerals whereas purified water may be more desirable for most applications.
There is no simple two path system for dispensing a selected one of both drinking water and purified water and no means for operating the different paths to produce the desired quantity of drinking water or purified water.
The still operation for demineralization is relatively expensive, unreliable in remote locations, and often leads to improperly purified water and system shutdown. Prior art systems do not always remove such contaminates as chlorine and the like from the water and micro-organisms are not substantially 100 percent killed since they are present in the solution of minerals for producing drinking water and the like.
The automatic shutdown system of the prior art in response to impure water terminates the operation of the system rather than permitting the system to draw from a reserve or storage tank until maintenance can arrive to repair the system. A need exists for a system which will supply a higher quality of drinking water from processed raw water and for supplying purified water by filtering means without the use of complex stills, dionization systems, demineralizers, or the like.
A need also exists for a method and apparatus for vending water in response to the deposit of coins, specie, token, and the like to dispense a predetermined quantity of water into a user-provided container wherein the user is given the opportunity of selecting either drinking water or purified water; wherein the deposit of the coin provides various vending cycle times for controlling the operation of the system and the quantity of water dispensed; and wherein micro-organisms and the like are substantially 100 percent killed before the purified water or drinking water is dispensed.
The present invention provides an improved water purification and vending system for solving substantially all of the problems of the prior art and providing many unique advantages thereover.